Heather Lake
North Cascades
As of March 25th, 2026, the trail to Heather Lake is wet and features roaring creeks, with flowing water on the trail and slippery roots/rocks. Packed snow is present in the upper sections, particularly near the lake, with some reports suggesting it's manageable without microspikes, while others recommend them for stability (March 22nd, March 21st, March 8th). A significant storm on March 13th brought thigh-deep powder and made the trail challenging without gaiters, with a tree blocking the road temporarily. Road conditions are generally manageable with some potholes (March 2nd, January 25th, January 19th). Parking was plentiful on weekends in February but filled up later in the day (February 15th). Some reports indicate the lake is still partially or fully frozen (March 2nd, February 4th, February 3rd), but caution against walking on the ice due to cracking sounds (January 26th).
generated from 108 reports
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Trailhead was empty when I arrived 8:30am trail was very wet, roaring creeks, and flowing water on the trail but easy to navigate. A bit of snow at the last bit of trail before the lake (packed but a ...
Arrived at trailhead at 8:30am. 8 other cars in the lot. Trail mostly dry until 0.75 miles with a few light snowmelt runoffs. Got much wetter after that with streams running down trail and some slippe...
Trail was wet in a lot of places, but easy to hike. Packed snow up at the lake. We didn't use our spikes, but were glad we had our poles for the couple times we slipped. Overall a beautiful day and a ...
Arrived at 6:30 am, only car in the lot, roughly 5 inches of snow in the parking lot. Had trail to myself the whole time which was a first! Snow got rather severe, I wish I had brought my gaters. Snow...
Lots of small waterfalls down on the trail so be prepared to get a little wet if you don’t have water proof shoes but it was easy to navigate on the rocks. There was snow at the top and I had micro sp...
Road to trailhead is good for all cars, just need to dodge some potholes but its manageable!Trail is good up until last 0.75 miles where it is a bit icy so spikes recommended!Lake is frozen at the top...
Plenty of parking at 9:30am on a sunny Sunday, thanks to the overflow lot!The second half of the trail was a mix of wet, icy, and snowy. The rooty sections were the most treacherous in my opinion, bec...
First half was a breeze. The last part of the trail was roots, puddles, slush then snow. If you want to actually enjoy the hike I recommend poles, shoe spikes, and proper cold weather layering. I felt...
I hiked up to Heather Lake today with a high school hiking club.The bathroom at the trailhead was open, clean, and stocked with toilet paper.It was raining a bit when we started up, and gradually star...
The first half is highly manicured with laid gravel and built-in steps, making for a very clear and easy ascent. The second half gets significantly more rugged as the gravel disappears. The last quart...
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